Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Pros

Pro

Short and simple

The MIT license is one of the shortest licenses of all the major recognized open source licenses. The full text is just 3 paragraphs long.

Pro

Prevents lock-in

The license basically allows anyone to do whatever they want with the code as long as the original copyright and license notice is included along with the copy of the code. The code can be used for commercially, privately, it can be modified and it can be distributed.

Pro

Explicitly allows sublicensing

The license specifically mentions that the code can be used in other software that might have a less permissive license.

Pro

Protects the author

The author of the software avoids any risk for how the software may be used by others.

Cons

Con

Does not protect long-term user freedom

The MIT/Expat license doesn't protect against open-source code being taken (without payment) and used in proprietary software. This is harmful to user freedom because it lets future development be taken out of the public domain and instead moved into non-free programs.

In addition, it doesn't protect against software patents being used to attack user freedom. Unlike the Apache 2.0 and GPLv3 licenses, the MIT/Expat was written before software patents became a problem and doesn't include a patent release.

Con

Does not prevent others from taking and selling your software

The MIT license is permissive enough that anyone can take your code, rebrand it and sell it.

Con

Ambiguous name

The MIT License is sometimes known as the Expat License or the X11 License because it has been used with different names in different places.